Posts Tagged ‘ben there dan that’

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“When’s the new Ben & Dan game coming?” the crowd throbbing around Dan Marshall pleads. Something about the way his shirt is always unbuttoned, inevitably one button beyond appropriate, makes people assume he’s in control. “You know, Son of Ben & Dan, or Revenge of the Balloon-Headed Mexican, or whatever it is, when oh when oh where oh why?”

You don’t need Dan. You probably don’t even want him. Ben Ward–the good half of Ben & Dan, the one to play pool with, who only teases kindly about your love life–has released a silly Twine game.

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The Swindle was the much-anticipated next game from Time Gentlemen, Please and Privates dev Size Five Games. Then things went quiet. Very, very quiet. But why? Wha’happened? Will we ever get to play this cyberpunk crime caper? Here, Size Five’s Dan Marshall reveals for the first time why the game went dark – a sad tale of Windows 8-based potential doom, leading to a Summer of fear and the difficult decision to start the game over from scratch. But, thank heavens, it’s a sad tale with a happy ending. Also, you can get your first glimpse at the game’s totes snazzy new look in its brand new engine in the top three (pre-alpha) screenshots in this post.Read the rest of this entry »

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Adventure, ho! In the sense of heading out, of course, not issuing a demand to an unimaginative lady of the night. This latest pay-more-or-less-what-you-want bundle to hit the net is a pretty good deal, with seven games for the usual pay-more-or-less-what-you want, including Gemini Rue and a brand new offering called The Sea Will Claim Everything, a bit of charity, and an interesting way to help kickstart a new developer without spending a penny extra.

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Despite cancelling third Ben and Dan game Revenge of the Balloon-Headed Mexican, Size Five Games (formerly Zombie Cow) have begun design-drafting a new adventure starring their foul-minded/mouthed point’n’click avatars. Or, at least, they’ve gone down the pub and brainstormed and even made a bunch of ideas and puzzles, ending up with something which might just turn into a full game. The Swindle remains project no.1, but happily we might be in for more crudified Lucasartsesque merriment too. It even has a codename: SOBAD.Read the rest of this entry »

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In a rather peculiar move, Zombie Cow – the indie developers behind the brilliant Ben There, Dan That, and Time Gentlemen, Please – have changed their name. No longer are they post-bovine, and have now become Size Five Games. Why? I’m not sure even they know why. Something about “Zombie Cow” being embarrassing to say in business situations. Well, I recommend trying to be “Rock, Paper, Shotgun” in a meeting with accountants. But Dan Marshall, the main man behind the name, has always hated it. And now he has the far more official sounding title, would everyone mind awfully rewriting their memories such that it was always the case? I think he’d prefer that. It also seems they’re quite close to announcing a new game, which is rather spiffy news.

“Oooh, Ben There, Dan That!, eh? Ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, didn’t it? I wonder how veritable heroes Dan and Ben get out of that one. Shame there’ll never ever be a sequel, simply because Donationware doesn’t really bring in enough cold, hard cash to make it economically viable.”